Chapter 497

These three human kingdoms were all very large, each about twice the size of the Xiling Kingdom, yet their populations were roughly the same as Xiling's.

The reason was simple: they were too close to the Endless Desert, and vast stretches of grassland and wasteland in these three kingdoms simply could not support large populations.

To the southwest of these three human kingdoms lay the Endless Desert.

The width of the Endless Desert exceeded Meng Ying's imagination.

As Meng Ying flew across the Endless Desert, she discovered it was at least six thousand kilometers wide!

Moreover, the Endless Desert was still spreading eastward, and no one knew how far it extended to the east.

This was indeed a vast desert.

And it appeared that the desert was still expanding.

The people of the Continent of Gods had little experience in managing deserts, or even any awareness of it.

There were some oases within the desert, and a few people lived there, but their numbers were extremely small.

Since the moist monsoon winds blew from west to east, Yan Kingdom remained unaffected; in its eastern regions, vegetation remained lush, sharply divided from the Endless Desert.

After flying across the Endless Desert, Yan Kingdom appeared before her.

After understanding the surrounding situation, Meng Ying flew straight to the City of Miracles.

"Holy Maiden, I'm back!"

Meng Ying found the fox maiden Sister Qing Ling.

Sister Qing Ling, seeing Meng Ying return, showed a joyful expression:

"Sister Meng Ying, you're finally back."

Meng Ying nodded and said, "This trip took a few days longer than planned—I was delayed on the way."

Then she told her about the elves.

Sister Qing Ling listened intently, and after hearing it all, she clutched her chest and said, "Thank goodness you arrived in time."

Then she exclaimed, "I never imagined my God had an elf empire to the north! I've heard elves are generally strong—hundreds of thousands of them can match tens of millions of us. Sister Meng Ying, we must work harder!"

Meng Ying nodded and said, "Holy Maiden, this journey yielded great results—I believe I've found our expansion direction after taking the Hunhe Duchy!"

Sister Qing Ling, being clever, replied, "The Zijin Empire?"

Meng Ying nodded and said, "Yes, the Zijin Empire! But first, we must take those three human kingdoms!"

The War of Faith is not a war of individuals.

For example, if Meng Ying now went into a human kingdom, she might kill all its High-Ranking Members within a short time—but she could never conquer the kingdom.

She was only one person.

How do you control a nation?

Moreover, that nation has a god behind it.

So even though they had three legends and we had only two, after Meng Ying destroyed their imperial palace and killed two Imperial Princes, and the Miandejiao Society surrendered, she chose to stop.

Continuing the fight would be meaningless—their god still stood behind them.

To fight, we must go with an army.

That is the War of Faith.

Otherwise, even if a Sacred Realm warrior went to the Zijin Empire, he could never conquer it alone.

Sister Qing Ling nodded and said, "Good! But the Endless Desert is a problem. After we take the Hunhe Duchy, we need time to stabilize—this period is perfect for mass-producing airships, expanding our army, and strengthening our power. Wars between empires will be far larger in scale than wars between kingdoms; we need more strong cultivators."

(Dukes, Marquises, Counts, Viscounts, and Barons were not only Western titles but also ancient Chinese noble ranks; however, in ancient China, noble titles were rarely mentioned—official positions mattered more. For example, Zhuge Liang was the Marquis of Wuxiang, Li Mu was the Marquis of Wuan, and Li Hongzhang was the First-Class Duke of Su Yi, i. e., a Baron.)